Phantasy Star Universe (Xbox 360, 2006)

My teenage son got this and he loves the story & the graphics are great. Great game - highly recommends this. As a mom I think it must be a good game cause its hard to get him away from it. All his friends like it too.

It's different than what i expected; still fun though; i've always played Phantasy Star since the SEGA MASTER SYSTEM; i got addicted to the ONLINE DEMO and decided to buy this game; little did i know the game was DISCONTINUED;lol; but cool, found it; bought it; its a good game; definitely worth what i paid for;

Some may believe that this game is only worth playing online, but a closer look at the game will reveal an entirely different game compared to it's predecessor, full of a solid story line built around "episode style" chapters. And if you're in to getting gamerscore points, then you've definitely came across the right game. Simply hack and slash through the story mode to earn yourself a full 1000 points. If that didn't get you to start bidding, how about this: The online mode of this Phantasy Star Universe holds an immense world full of people from all around. The fee may sound a little steep,(a little less than $10), but the games content is constantly updated, and new items and missions are always on the way. Also, Xbox Live Gold membership is NOT needed to play the online mode. The only fee to play online is the fee mentioned earlier to obtain your own personal Guardians License. So go out there and get away from it all in the world of Phantasy Star Universe.

The game's single player campaign is well done, it has an anime television show feel to it, similar to ".Hack//". The story is well thought out and after each chapter you get a slight glimpse of what to look forward to in the next chapter, kind of like a preview to a TV show. The characters are decently designed with futuristic clothing and hair styles while some characters have a traditional Chinese look. Each planet that you explore has a great environment feel too it. The music and level design matches quite well, making it feel like this could be a real place someday. The game took me a few of sittings to beat, about 6 hours a night for about 3-4 nights. Considering what's out there recently, that's impressive. You will have to do side missions to level up your character enough to get through the later levels, this will become repetitious at times, however if you're use to the hack and slash RPG titles, this shouldn't be anything new to you.

The MMO aspect of the game is no where near as diverse as some of the PC MMOs out there, however it does have it's bonuses. New missions are added from time to time and some of the old missions from the campaign are there to keep you busy. You have your own room to decorate as you please, you can open up a shop and sell loot that you receive during missions for whatever prices you desire or you can turn your room into a night game stadium. There's tons of room decorations, some which can only be received by killing monsters for them. You can also make your own weapons, armors, and accessories through the synthesizer in your room. You will need to collect the appropriate items to synth them but this is great for those who are trying to stock weapons at there store with different elements attached to them.

Many people have complained that the online price is too steep. It's 10 dollars a month, which is average compared to other MMOs. It isn't the greatest price in the world, but if you play the game frequent enough, it's not that much. Playing every now and then for quite a few months, well... that's when you need to switch to network mode. Which is like the MMO version just you team up with characters from the game instead of real people. (Side Note: Obviously opening a store in this case is useless.)

All and all, I give this game a 4 out of 5. If anything, I recommend playing it for the campaign mode, since it's worth it. Those who do not want to dive into the MMO part of the game won't miss a great deal, but there will be people who like it enough to dedicate time to it. It's all a matter of personal opinion. For X-Box 360 players, you can download a demo of the game through X-Box Live, which contains a portion of the online mode free to try. That way you can see if you truly want to dedicate time to it. Character can not be carried over from the demo to the full version though, so only try it as much as you need to if you plan on switching to the full version.

- Scott V.

this is definitely not the best game in the world by any means, but if you enjoy a decent rpg with a unique but easy to understand system or if you are wishing you could play an MMORPG without spending money on an expensive new computer to run it on, this is the way to go.

My Son looked all over town for this game. I looked on ebay for him and found it cheaper & new. Great buy!!!

I was playing this game and from all the reviews i had read i figured i play for a 1/2 hour but i was WRONG i found my self staying up till 5 am the game story line is very catchy. I enjoy playing turned based games but it is a great hack and slash game if u r looking to get away from the conventional turn based. The game is worth buying even if u dont plan to play online. There are many different weapons to chose from if u r a long lived swords men than there are swords but if u want to use guns u have the option to i loved the characters of the game i would rate the game a 8.5/10 i would give it a 9.5 but i do not like the fact u have to pay to play online. i do recomend this game to any die hard rpg lover.

If u got any ??? about the game feel free to email me at rcttwins@yahoo.com

Ok these are those kinds of games that make a person feel right at home due to its online server making it a wonderful choice of a game to buy you will soon find out what i mean when you download demo version off of Xbox 360 marketplace in the online store its free. Hope this review gave ya a little insite somehow ! &_&

I hated it. Very boring...not impressed at all. Wish I could get refund! The grafics were so cheap looking, not like most of the video games I've purchased. I plan to take it to the Gamestop and get a credit for another video game. Just wish I would have read up on it before I even purchased it. My daughter also thought it was so very boring. She likes everything so, really, this game totally, without a doubt is extremely boring, sorry, sucks,

Phantasy star universe is a pretty good game,I really had no dislikes about it.Great online options fun to play with other live members.Downloaded the demo played it, then bought it here on eBay.

The game itself may not seem stellar but for $20 you get a pretty decent singleplayer experience to keep you busy for a few hours(plus you get your achievement points for killing boss's so u'll have all 1000 by the time your done). I dont see any purpose in the online portion and the graphics are barely last gen(more like PS2 enhanced). Overall I dont think you will be mad about your purchase though, for the $20 I got it for it was worth it for the singleplayer.

IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. The graphics are sub-par for 360 games, the voice acting literally gave me a headache, the story made me naucious, and the online mode is abandoned and full of hackers and spammers.

Let me elaborate. The graphics for the 360 version are barely suitable for a PS2 game. The weapon swing animations are painfully slow and overacted. The voice acting is WORSE than any English voice-over I've ever heard, and I've watched a LOT of anime. It's like they hired Keanu Reeves and Hayden Christensen to do these lines. Every laugh seems forced and they don't actually sound like they understand what they're talking about. I actually looked in the options to see if I could switch the dialogue to Japanese, but unfortunately you can't choose.

The online mode is just as bad. Just like with it's predecessor PSO, Sonic Team abandoned it the day it was released. No GameMasters to get rid of spammers or hackers, and no one to complain to if something is bugged out and won't work. Walking around any town means trying to see between all the chat bubbles of people spamming things like, "PAYING 5K TO SEE HOT CHIX PIX!" and "CN SUM1 RUSH ME 2 LVL10? PAYING 20K" It gets worse than that, but it's not appropriate here.

Bottom line, DON'T BUY THIS GAME! SAVE YOUR MONEY AND YOUR SANITY! You'd be better off buying the Burger King games.

I bought this game since I like the PS series as a whole. Compared to the older games, this doesn't really stand out. It's more story than game and the gameplay itself gets repetitive. The worst thing about this game is that the XBox live part you have to pay ($10 roughly a month). Not really worth the buy unless you want the achievement points. Plus, in order to get new options like Extra Mode, you have to play out the story mode up to chapter six which can relatively take a long time. If I didn't have to dish out $10 to play with other people, it would have made a big difference. For RPGs, this is really nothing special. I say, get this for under $20 if possible. Not worth it if you get it for more than that.

I bought this game at a thankfully low price in the hopes of being able to enjoy a decent MMORPG, which its predecessors have the reputation for being. If I'd been smart and done my research before buying it, I would've noticed that there's a monthly fee involved. Ooops. I'll admit it, my bad. Being the cheapskate I am I simply plodded along in single-player mode in the vain hope of finding something to justify the purchase. Ooops again...

Single-player mode is... ok... but, doesn't stand out from any other RPG. Think Star Wars lightsabers meets Jurasic Park with aliens instead of dinosaurs. Cool in theory, but not in practice. Somehow (because you'd think that combination would be a winner hands down...)

Graphics feel decidedly previous generation and not at the hyper-advanced X-Box 360 level that we've come to expect from most every other game released.

Maybe it's more fun online, but I'm definitely not willing to pay the fee to find out.

The game I purchased was in Brand new condition it was a great item that would have cost me double in a store as far as the product itself the game play is slow and chalky with dry aspects it has wonderful cinematics that would keep in tact with its predecessors, but the game play itself was far to slow there was little or no action, this game would be more ideal for a 6-8 year old with no concept of the action and suspense factor needed in video games, as far as purchases from this particular seller I highly recommend them. As far as the game goes I give it the following ratings out of 10

2.4 on game play
4.5 on interactivity
7.0 on cinematics
4.7 on graphics
6.3 on sound

Overall 3.9 out of 10

Nostalgic of PSO, similar features + great new ones!
Phantasy Star Online was the best game ever before they shut off all servers.

very fun non expensive online Rpg. seems to have good graphics sound. server don't lag this is a great cheap Rpg to play with your friends online.

I like the game alot, it hasn't had any problems, except with the online, which isn't because of the disc. When I first saw the case, it looked a little beat up. I looked at the disc and the surface of both of the sides had little marks scattered around, but nothing big at all. The game works perfectly.

The characters are neat. The game plays good. It has a good story line. Good graphics. I would recomend getting this game if you like phantasy/sci-fi.

This game was a present for my nephiew how mention to me that he had been looking for that game on game stop but vegas not find it and he knew my 5 year old had just discover small soldiers movie and want it those toys and we explains to him they do not make them no more duebto he got very sick I knew they sell everything on eBay so I looked and found them so he ask me to look for this game, I found it and boghh it for him, he got extra happy and now plays it all the time even on line. He says is a great game and I just love that eBay just has it all. :)......... Janet

I had this game for PS2 and loved it. i cant wait to play it on 360 graphics. even tho it came out ages ago

I expected little and got even less. its not interested and its cheesy. more for kids 14 and under crowd. Lame parts in the game for instance OH NO Rocks falling down Ahh......wait ...wait...wait...and the little girl is buried under rocks. why she didnt run i dont know. Or 5 rapist looking guys coming my way but she is just going to talk smack in their face, and older brother is all talk no fight you can see it when he lets her get kidnapped instead of even moving towards her yelling run..nooooooooo..cheesy game.

Game started to freeze up. I took it to a "game exchange" place and they cleaned it. Works fine. Son is happy and satisfied. Makes me happy.